On Friday and Saturday the Salem Tigers played two doubleheaders against Mansfield University. Salem managed to split the first two Friday games against the Mountaineers, dropping the opening game of the series 6-2, but they made an impressive comeback in game 2 with a 5-0 win. Day 2 was just as competitive with the Tigers only going down 3-2, then taking a 4-1 loss in the second game.
Story courtesy salemtigers.com/Image courtesy Erin Zappia/Salem Athletics
New South Athletic Conference baseball squads are getting recognized nationally for their work on the diamond.
Defending Small College World Series champion Apprentice School is ranked third in the first USCAA baseball poll of the season, behind only Miami-Hamilton and Bucks County. Mid-Atlantic Christian rounds out the poll at number 15, with Salem bubbling just under the radar.
Virginia State is currently ranked fifth in the Black College Nines’ Top 10 Poll.
MACU’s Colin Langley and Salem’s Kaiden Zacharias led their teams to victories this past week and in doing so earned accolades from the New South Conference.
Langley earned the Pitcher of the Week award with an 8-7 conference win for the Mustangs over Virginia State as he went 6.1 innings, giving up just one earned run off of 6 hits. He also recorded 7 Ks.
Meanwhile, Zacharias had 7 hits, 2 SBs, and 6 RBIs to help the Tigers win a series against preseason #7 West Chester. Kaiden is currently hitting .333 with 18 RBI and 14SBs. For his productive work, Zacharias is our NSAC Player of the Week.
Congrats to both Colin and Kaiden!
Honorable Mention: Jalyn Lee, MACU; Jaryd Lund, Salem
ETTRICK, Va. – Redshirt junior Jalyn Lee launched a home run and scored 2 RBIs to lead Mid-Atlantic Christian to an 8-7 NSAC win over Virginia State Monday afternoon.
Colin Langley only gave up one earned run in 6 1/3 innings to get the win for the Mustangs. Caleb Whitley pitched 2 innings in relief for the save.
With the win, the Mustangs stay unbeaten in NSAC play at 2-0 and improve overall to 16-16. The Trojans fall to 0-1 and 13-11, respectively.
Virginia State’s success on the baseball diamond is being recognized nationally. The Trojans are currently ranked fifth in the Black Colleges Nines Small School Poll. Staying near the top of the poll has been a goal for the Trojans. The top-eight HBCU small schools will be invited to the 2023 Black College World Series in Montgomery, Alabama May 10-13.
In addition,, VSU also received votes in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II poll.
The Trojans open their New South Conference schedule today at 3:00 pm hosting Mid-Atlantic Christian.
Story and image courtesy govsutrojans.com
Salem’s weekend sweep of Bluefield State was led by a number of standout performers. We honor two of them this week.
Nathan Kuhn batted 6 for 8 with 7 RBIs, 2 home runs, a double, a triple, and an HBP, earning him the NSAC Player of the Week Award.
The Tigers’ Jaryd Lund got a complete-game 6-0 win by allowing just 2 hits and logging 3 strikeouts and no earned runs. For his efforts, Lund is named the NSAC Pitcher of the Week.
Congratulations to Nathan and Jaryd!
Images courtesy Salem Athletics
NUTTER FORT, W.V. – After their unsuccessful midweek contest against Davis & Elkins, the Salem Tigers baseball team played host to the Big Blue of Bluefield State for a 3-game series and came out of the weekend with a sweep of the Big Blue.
Salem 6, Bluefield State 0
In the first contest of the series, Salem met with the Big Blue at DCHS field in West Union for a doubleheader. Offensively, Sam Schmitt opened up the scoring in the game with a home run in the 2nd inning. The game remained at a tight 1-0 Salem lead until the 6th when the Tigers added 5 runs. It started with a Ben Matos 2 RBI single, and then a balk call on the Big Blue pitcher allowed Jose Lojo to advance from third for the third run of the inning. Luis Angarita then knocked another in with an RBI triple. The final run of the inning and the contest came from a masterfully executed double steal play allowed Luis Angarita to steal home to make it 6-0. On the pitcher’s mound, Salem benefitted from a great performance from Jaryd Lund, who got the complete game win by allowing just 2 hits and logging 3 strikeouts.
Salem 4, Bluefield State 2
In Game 2, the second leg of the doubleheader in West Union was a tight game early on. The Big Blue scored 2 in the top of the first, but Salem responded in kind with 2 of their own. The first came from a Kaiden Zacharias single to bring in Luis Angarita. After that, the Tigers were able to fill the bases, and then a walk of Sam Schmitt by the Bluefield State pitcher allowed Zacharias to bring in the 2nd run of the inning. However, with a tied ball game, the pressure was still on for the Tigers. They broke the deadlock with another RBI single in the 2nd, and this time it was off of the bat of Nathan Kuhn to make it 3-2. Salem kept control of the game through the following innings, and added one more insurance run in the 4th when Luis Angarita made it home once again off of a Brett Ehr groundout. From there, the Salem defense held, and the Tigers earned a 4-2 win. Another win and another great pitching performance aided the Tigers in the victory. This time, it came from Sam Schmitt, who logged 9 strikeouts in 7 innings of work for another complete game win for the Tigers.
Salem 18, Bluefield State 7
For the final contest of the series, the Tigers returned to their home field of Frank Loria Memorial field for a Sunday afternoon contest. This time, Salem really showed off their offensive capabilities with a total of 18 runs in the game. From the plate, Salem put up a whopping 18 hits, including 2 home runs from Nathan Kuhn, 1 home run from Trey Hissam, a pair of triples from Luis Angarita and Kaiden Zacharias, and another pair of doubles from Kuhn and Angarita. On top of uncorking their best offensive day of the season, Salem benefited from another strong pitching performance. This time, it was a group effort with starter Tyler Sammons, Travis Lavendier, Ben Sitarenios, Jhayden Raineri, and Keegan Oliver combining for a total of 10 strikeouts. Tyler Sammons also logged his first win of the season.
With this weekend sweep of the Big Blue, Salem (8-16 overall, 0-0 NSAC) will be looking to double down on this performance in the rematch this week. The Tigers are headed down to Bluefield this time for a midweek road doubleheader starting at 1 PM on March 29th.
Story and image courtesy salemtigers.com
NUTTER FORT, W.V. – Salem opened up their week with a game against Davis & Elkins College today at 3pm. Davis & Elkins, another Division II school located only just over an hour from Salem, put up a good performance against the tigers scoring 12 runs to Salem’s 4.
The tigers were the first to score in inning 1, Luis Angarita hit a single and was able to steal a base. Nathan Kuhn then hit another single which gave Angarita the opportunity to come home leaving the score 1-0 to Salem. D&E responded to this in the second inning tallying 5 hits and 2 runs. The tigers we able to even the score when Trey Hissam singled bringing home Jacob Hurley. In the third inning D&E scored another 2 runs and Sam Schmitt singled which let Angarita return home for a second time leaving the score 3-4 to D&E. The tigers were unable to score again until the 9th inning when Hayes Lightsey got on base with a single and then scored thanks to a double hit by Aaron Forbes. D&E however put up an extra 3 runs before the 9th and then scored 5 runs in the last inning taking the score to 4-12 to D&E. The tigers will get a chance to redeem themselves against them on April 19th. Their next series will be against Bluefield State University at home on Saturday the 25th of March.
Story and image courtesy salemtigers.com
HAMPTON, Va. — There is a famous idiom that says, “There is a first time for everything.” For the Mid-Atlantic Christian baseball program, there have been a lot of firsts since the program started in 2020. However, one opponent had always alluded the Mustangs and that was conference rival Apprentice. Over the past three campaigns, the Builders had the Mustangs number, winning all six contests, but that changed on Tuesday afternoon as MACU defeated the reigning USCAA national champions 3-2 at War Memorial Stadium.
The Builders (21-6 overall, 0-1 NSAC) were the first to score, plating a run off a Camden Weston RBI double. MACU (13-18, 1-0) found it’s time to strike in the top of the fifth inning. Back-to-back walks from Apprentice pitching led to Jack Valachovic sacrificing the runners to second and third base with one out on the board. Josiah Collado grounded out to third base but during the play, scored Travis Snell from third. Anthony Torres stepped up to the plate and knocked in the second run of the inning as he sent a single to center field that brought in Elijah Ollman to push the Mustangs ahead 2-1.
Apprentice got back on the board in the seventh as Justin Bradshaw legged it out to first to avoid a double play and plate the tying run, but the Mustangs dug deep and scratched across a run in the top of the eighth as Giovanny Mendez sent a hard RBI single to right field to register the winning run for MACU.
The Builders had chances in the eighth and ninth with runners on second and third in both frames, but MACU answered the call and worked out of each inning unscathed to earn the win.
Story courtesy gomacumustangs.com and gobuilders.com. Image courtesy MACU Athletics
Mid-Atlantic Christian University outfielder Jack Valachovic swung his way into a big week for the Mustangs during their road trip to South Florida, earning NSAC Player of the Week honors.
The sophomore from Cary, North Carolina went 7-13 in the Sunshine State with 3 doubles and 4 RBIs.
Congrats, Jack!
